Thermal insulating article and assembly



July 30, 1940. F. P. PUZIO THERMAL INSULATING ARTICLE AND ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 3, 1937 INVENTOR- FRANK PVPUZIO l lllllllllllllll lllll.. /KM

ATTORNEY Patented July 30, 1940 UNITED STATES 'PATENTIOFFKIE THERMAL INSULATING ASSEMBLY TICLE AND Frank P. Puzio, Manville, N. 1., assignor to Johns- Manville Corporation, NewYork, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 3. 1937,' Seria1 No. 123,806

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a thermal insulating article and assembly thereof upon an object of curvilinear exterior surface.

The cost of shipping thermal insulation shaped 6 'at the place of manufacture to fit around a furname or tank,'for example, is excessive. Also, the expense of manufacturing such an article may be relatively large. J

It is an object of the present invention to pro- 10 vide insulation for an object such as a furnace, tank, or the like, of curved exterior surfaces, that may be made and shipped in flat form and then fitted around theobject, with the provision of efiicient insulation. v y

In the preferred embodiment, the invention comprises thick sheet insulation provided with closely spaced deep scorings such as cuts or saw,

kerfs adapting the sheet to conform to a curvilinear surface. The invention comprises also 2 themeans herein described for minimizing flow.

In Fig. 1- there is shown a furnace or tank ii with the insulation over the end thereof omitted, to show better the fitting of the improved insulating article i2.

- This insulating sheet is thick,sayabout threequarters of an inch or more in thickness, and is provided with closely spaced deep scorings i3 which extend generally parallel toeach other, across the sheet, that is. from end to end or side to side thereof, and divide'the sheet into narrow sections. These sections extend gener-' ally parallel to each other and are. flexibly or hingedly united by the outer layers' .or portions M of the insulation which are not out through by the scorings.

In pplying such a scored sheet to the outside of the object of'curved surface, the insulation is applied with the scored surface inward and i with the depthsfof the scorings-extending in the directions of the radii of curvature of the exterior surface of the" obiect. Thus, when the object iscylindrical, the sections defined betweenthe adjacent scorings extend lengthwise Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an assemblyof the cylinder and the scorings extend approximately as projections of radii.

In such an assembly, as illustrated in part on a larger scale in Fig. 4, the sections contact at their mid-portions IS with the insulated surface and are, spaced therefrom at the edges of the sections, where adjacent sections preferably abut, practically to close the entrances to the scorings. Furthermore, the scorings are advantageously filled, in part at least, with a compressible thermal insulating material so that, as the insulation is fitted around the curvilinear surface, the thermal insulating filling of the scorings serves to restrict air circulation within thescoring and thus to minimize transferv of heat therethrough.

'to promote conformance oi the sheet over a surface of .various radii of curvature. Thus, the sheet may have the scorings close together in the part tqibe conformed to sharplycurving surfaces, far apart for slightly curving surfaces, or absent entirely in areas of the sheet that are to be fitted over flat portions of an object, as, for instance, over the fiat 'sides of the object of approximately elliptical shape of cross section shown in Fig. 1. In making the improved insulating article, the following method venient.

layers of corrugated and plane asbestos paper, preferably'in alternating relationship to each As, illustrated in-Fig, 2, the scorings may be spaced differently in different parts of the sheet;

has been found to be con;-

other, the adjacent sheets being adhered together I by sodium silicate or other conventional adhesive. Thus, there may be built up a plied com posite of the thickness'of an inch or so. This instance, with a series of gang saws spaced from each other, to cut the scorings (in this case saw kerfs) at the desired distances apart, and so adjusted as to cut from one face inwardly, almost but not quite through the composite. In this way, there is leftthe" hinge portion. it which extends between the 'adjacent'sections of the scored insulation and permits \flexing while hold ing together all of the said sections. The sec,- tions are individually substantially rigid. paper of which ttli hinge portion il'isf" constitutes a con uous backing member for the insulating material.

.The scoring by the saws gives a fibrous 'compressible mass ll of loose'asbestos which remains.

Y m There is first formed a sheet of composited If desired, other filling may be introduced into thescorings, as, for example, shredded wool felt, granulated magnesia insulation, or a plastic insulating material adapted to remain in the scorings without uniting the sections rigidly.

The spacings of the scorings and their dimensions are determined by the conditions under which the article is to be used, as indicated above by the curvature of the object to be insulated. Thus,-I have used, in an insulating article of composited spaced sheets of asbestos paper one inch thick, scorings that are one to ,three inches apart and or width each of about one-eighth inch or more. These score marks suitably exi 71d through all buttwo of the outer layers of the asbestos paper, the total number of layers being about four of corrugated and five of plane paper to the inchof thickness of the sheet, and the plane paper preferably bein exposed on both faces of the insulation. 7 The corrugations may be It will be understood that the details ,gi n are ossed, in alternate layers of the corrugated paper, the scoring as for the purpose of illustration and not restriction. Variations within the spirit of the invention are intended to beincluded in the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. Thermal insulation. for application to an object of curved surface, said insulation comprising a relatively thick sheet having closely spaced, deep scorings extending inwardly from a face of the sheet which is to lie adjacent said curved surface and extending across the sheet in approximate parallelism to define narrow sections therebetwe'en, each of said scorings containing a compressible mass of loose fibrous material whereby upon application of the sheet to the object of curved surfacethe' scorings are substantially closed at the said face of the sheet and the mass of fibrous material is compressed to provide an insulating filling for the scorings.

2. In combination an object of curved surface and a thermal insulating cover therefor, said insulating cover comprising a relatively thick sheet of originally plane surface having closely spaced, deep scorings extending inwardly from the face of the sheet adjacent 'said,curved surface and extending'across the sheet in approximate parallelism and defining narrow sections therebetween, said sections contacting with thecurved surface, said scorings being substantially closed atlsaid face of the sheet and each containing a compressed mass of fibrous material whereby the continuity of the insulation is preserved andtransfer of heat at the scorings is minimized.

FRANK P. P'UzIo; 

